SACSCOC Fifth Year Interim Report
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Assessment : 2013 - 2014 : Educational Programs :
History BA/BS
History BA/BS
2 Goals 4 Objectives 4 Indicators 4 Criteria 4 Findings 4 Actions
| GOAL: BA Graduate Preparation |
| Objective |
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| In Texas, would-be public school history teachers must pass a state examination. |
| Indicator |
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Teacher education students who major or minor in History will pass the TExES examination. The Texas Examinations of Educator Standards (TExES) was developed by the State Board of Educator Certification/Texas Education Agency as a multiple-choice criterion-referenced examination designed to measure a candidate’s knowledge in relation to an established criterion rather than to the performance of other candidates. The History TExES has three domains: (I) World History, (II) U.S. History, and (III) Foundations, Skills, Research, and Instruction. |
| Criterion |
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| 80% of all teacher education students who major or minor in History will pass the TEXES history examination with at least a score of 70%. |
| Finding |
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53% (20 of 38) of History students passaed the TExES examination with an Overall Scaled Score of 70%-plus. In terms of Domain scores, 38% were at 70% of above. |
Actions for Objective:
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Our scores this past year were well below target. Perhaps this occured because the exam was significantly modified. In one instance, the exam was changed such that students could take either othe 7-12 or 8-12 exam, the former with an additional domain (in Texas history). In another instance, the emphasis in each domain and the relative weights of each were changed. There is now more world history and less coverage of non-political, "top-down" history. We are addressing this in two ways. First, we changed the requirements for the undergraduate BA such that beginning with the Fall 2014 catalog, our major will mirror the exam. There is new weight in the major requirements on world and premodern history, and the American history section will no longer compel students to take the sequence of political history courses (these courses having first been required years ago on account of the TExES emphasis then). These changes, we are confident, will in no way prejudice History students who will not be pursuing education as a career. This catalog will mainly be in force for next year's freshmen and beyond, but we expect to see some reflection in improved TExES scores next year. Next, we will be rewriting our practice exam for the TExES in view of the changes the actual test has undergone. The current practice test was composed years ago and took into account now obsolete emphases. This will be an initiative of our Undergraduate Committee in 2014-15. |
| GOAL: BA Graduate Preparation |
| Objective |
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History students best demonstrate specific history thinking and research skills through the writing of finished history research projects. |
| Indicator |
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| During the course of the semester, students enrolled in 4000-level (senior level) courses will demonstrate mastery of historical scholarship and writing skills, as determined by a panel of history faculty. |
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| The department developed a research-paper assessment rubric for use with a panel of faculty and a large sample of the 4000-level research papers. The rubric specified four areas of student attainment in a research paper: Thesis; Evidence; Documentation; and Organization. In 2013-14, the department made a priority of enhancing the first of these two criteria in the research classes. |
| Finding |
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A panel of two senior faculty reviewed 17 papers against the attached rubric. Up to 5 points each were given for thesis, evidence, documentation, and organization. The 17 papers (about a fifth of total) gained scores between 10 and 20. The mean score was 16.26 and the median between 16 and 17. Scores were marginally higher for Thesis and Evidence than for Documentation and Organization. A sample assessment document is attached. |
Actions for Objective:
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| This first year of offering the new capstone HIST 4399 will provide data that we shall analyze against the historical experience of the 4000-levels prior to this year. |
| GOAL: Skills In And Knowledge Of History |
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| Students will acquire relevant historical knowledge and the ability to put it to use. |
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Students enrolled in lower-level US history courses, by far the largest enrollments in the department's curriculum, will demonstrate an enhancement in historical knowledge over the course of the term. The department, consulting Texas norms, has devised pre-and post-tests based for this purpose. |
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| The department devised a new instrument (attached) of 25 questions, based on the norms the state of Texas has expressed for the introductory history courses mandated for every public university student. The department expects measurable improvement in the post-test results versus the pre-test, of at least 10%. |
| Finding |
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In six sections representing about 1000 students total (a fifth of all lower-level enrollments), the pre-post test results were higher in the post in five cases than the pre. The score in these six sections, pre-post, were as follows: 35%/65%; 58%/60%; 42/48%; 55%/52% 55%/59%; and 54%/58%. In aggregate, the average on the pre was 50.0% and the post 55.8%, an increase of just over 10%. |
Actions for Objective:
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| The Undergraduate Affairs committee will begin a process of rewriting and renorming the pre- and post- tests. |
| GOAL: Skills In And Knowledge Of History |
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To expose students, especially during their lower level classes, to various methods of teaching and intellectual stimuli all promoting key historical thinking skills. Students will have multiple pedagogical experiences designed to ascertain which forms produce best results. |
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Students will have multiple pedagogical experiences designed to ascertain which forms produce best results. In the Fall of 2013, two sections of HIST 1301 were employed in an experiment. Using one section as a control, a comparison was made to an identically populated related section. (This was repeated in Spring 2014 using HIST 1302.) The following methods were used in the test section: 1. Reduction of lecture in favor of interactive student research activity. 2. Frequent promotion of small-group and team co-operative learning. 3. Use of Jeopardy-style gaming to promote information rehearsal. Changes in assessments were: 1. Shift from memorization performance to researched essay responses. 2. Increased emphasis in grading expectations on appropriate use of critical thinking and analysis skills in addition to content recitation. 3. Provision of a consistent critical thinking and writing analysis rubric in preparation for all exams. The traditionally taught course consisted of lecture and power point delivery assessed through short-answer and multiple-choice testing as is commonly practiced in freshman sections. Success would be indicated by enhanced assessment performance from students in experimental sections. |
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Testing outcomes will be compared. Success would be indicated by enhanced assessment performance from students in experimental sections. Because this is a new program objective, the specific amount of desired demonstrable performance is difficult to estimate. |
| Finding |
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For the Fall 2013 HIST 1301 sections, the IQR differences were: Exam 1: +16% Exam 2: +12% Exam 3: +3% For the Spring 2014 HIST 1302 sections, the IQR differences were: Exam 1: +26% Exam 2: +21% Exam 3: +12% The average of all the differences was +15% |
Actions for Objective:
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| We shall run a similar study the fall term and seek to broaden its use in the spring. |
| Previous Cycle's "Plan for Continuous Improvement" |
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Undergraduate education remains the princiapl realm of reform and enhancement in this Department. We are preparing to review our 3000-level curriculum, a review that will take place in fall 2013, so that specific tracks of upper-level courses will help our students excel in not only United States but World history. We will also implement the reformed capstone course so as to give our graduated majors full experience in the modes of critical thinking and research.
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| Update on Previous Cycle's "Plan for Continuous Improvement" |
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1. We underwent a review of undergraduate program requirements. The Undergrtaduate Affairs Committee proposed a plan for new degree requirements holding that every student should have coursework in American, pre-modern, world, and European history. The department as a whole discussed the proposal and after slight modification it was implemented for the fall 2014 catalog.
2. The capstone course of 4399 gained its full approval and future instructors have begun planning the course, scheduled now for the first time in 2014-15. |
| Plan for Continuous Improvement |
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The first challenge is to monitor the new degree plan and how it alters the culture and performance of the undergraduate major. This will be undertaken by the Undergraduate Affairs committe.
Also, we must monitor the quality of undergraduate teaching by the best instruments we can find, paying particular attention to the experience of our severela EWCAT sections this year. |